Integrating Educational Technology in My Career
My philosophy of learning is strongly influenced by my background as an educational technologist and a producer of educational media. Students need to be active learners, constructing their own knowledge of the world. Media such as videos can be powerful tools for helping students construct mental models of concepts or creating models of behavior. Online technologies can give them the ability to guide their own learning and access wide sources of knowledge that can be used to supplement structured teaching. More specifically, educational media also needs to be engaging and inspiring, while still based on best practices, educational theory and research.
While video can be a powerful and popular tool in online education, its use should be supported by good instructional design. Videos can be supplemented by a wide variety of online tools and activities that help students make connections and supplement the knowledge contained in video content. Understanding the audience is also an important part of using educational media. Media used in structured versus unstructured educational settings can be different, as well as media intended for children or for adult learners. With this understanding of audience needs, videos will be a powerful element in e-learning courses.
Beyond videos, I also think the implementation of technology in education is also an important, but process. It is vital that technology is used in education to address an issue or improve how a topic is taught. Technology shouldn't just be adopted for the sake of technology, but to address an instructional objective. Also, if technology is provided to educators, they should be given instruction or a model on how the technology can be used in their teaching. If technology is just given out without any guidance, it is possible that it will not be used to its fullest extent. For this reason, technology education or tutorials are a vital part of any implementation plan.
Web sites that reflect my philosophy of education and educational technology.
1. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
2. American Educational Research Association (AERA)
3. Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)
4. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
6. Edutopia
7. Educause
8. US Office of Educational Technology
10. Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning
My favorite books on education and educational technology.
Arshavskiy, M. (2013) Instructional Design for ELearning: Essential guide to creating successful eLearning courses. Create Space Independent Publishing Platform.
Bingham, T., & Conner, M. (2015). The New Social Learning: Connect. Collaborate. Work. Association For Talent Development.
Clark, R. C., & Lyons, C. (2010). Graphics for learning: Proven guidelines for planning, designing, and evaluating visuals in training materials. John Wiley & Sons.
Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. John Wiley & Sons.
Horton, W. K. (2011). E-learning by design (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffe
Jonassen, D. H., Tessmer, M., & Hannum, W. H. (1998). Task analysis methods for instructional design. Routledge.
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: game-based methods and strategies for training and education. John Wiley & Sons.
Kapp, K. M., Blair, L., Rich, M. (2014). The gamification of learning and instruction fieldbook. John Wiley & Sons.
Mayer, R. E. (2014). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning, 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press.
Pershing, J. A.(Ed.) (2006). Handbook of human performance technology (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Spector, J. M. (2011). Foundations of Educational Technology: Integrative Approaches and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2nd Edition. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Van Tiem, D., Moseley, J. L., & Dessinger, J. C. (2012). Fundamentals of performance improvement: Optimizing results through people, process, and organizations. John Wiley & Sons.
Whitaker, T., Zoul, J., & Casas, J. (2015). What Connected Educators Do Differently. Routledge.